THESE HILLS (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP

Far away I've traveled
to stand once more alone
and hear my memories echo
through these hills that I call home

As a child I roamed this valley
I watched the seasons come and go
I spent many hours dreaming
on these hills that I call home

The wind is rushing through the valley
and I don't feel so all alone
When I see the dandelions blowing
across the hills that I call home

Like the flowers I am fading
into my setting sun
Brother and sister passed before me
Mama and Daddy they've long since gone

The wind is rushing through the valley
and I don't feel so all alone
When I see the dandelions blowing
across the hills that I call home
These are the hills that I call home

HOTTER THAN MOJAVE IN MY HEART (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP

Well, I've heard them say there's one for everybody
and I just knew somehow that you'd be the one for me
'cause making love with you's not just a hobby
no, it's the flame that burnt the forest down in me

And darling was it day or was it nighttime
were them whippoorwills a-moaning through the trees,
through the trees
I don't remember just what you said but ooh, right from the start
you made me hotter than Mojave in my heart

Well baby, I could stay this way forever
just passing time at ninety-nine degrees
'cause loving you's my favorite kind of weather
oh, forever let the flame burn down in me

And I'll not prepare my heart for the change of season
and I'll whip old Winter Wind there if she blows, if she blows
Well, God bless the day that you came along
and you tipped my apple cart
and you made me hotter than Mojave in my heart

And I'll not prepare my heart for the change of season
and I'm a-gonna whip old Winter Wind there if she blows, if she blows
Well, God bless the day that you came along
and you tipped my apple cart
you made me hotter than Mojave in my heart
Now it's hotter than Mojave in my heart

WHEN LOVE WAS YOUNG (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP

Look at you, look at me
my heart breaks as I read our sad story
Never thought that I'd be
here with you wishing I was free
I never dreamed today would come
when love was young

There was nothing I would not do
for the chance to see your face
How could I have known back then
that today I'd hesitate
When you hold me in your arms
I don't yearn for that charm
I never dreamed today would come
when love was young

Look at how our curtain fell
Guess it's true only time can tell
'bout an ending
Kids are grown, we've had our day
Guess it's time now to go away
I never dreamed today would come
when love was young

There was nothing I would not do
for the chance to see your face
How could I have known back then
that today I'd hesitate
When you hold me in your arms
I don't yearn for that charm
I never dreamed today would come
when love was young

I never dreamed today would come
when love was young

OUR TOWN (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP

And you know the sun's settin' fast
and just like they say nothing good ever lasts
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover
'cause your heart's bound to die
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town
goodnight

Up the street beside that red neon light
that's where I met my baby on one hot summer night
He was the tender and I ordered a beer
It's been forty years and I'm still sitting here

But you know the sun's settin' fast
and just like they say nothing good ever lasts
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover
'cause your heart's bound to die
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town
goodnight

It's here I had my babies and I had my first kiss
I've walked down Main Street in the cold morning mist
Over there is where I bought my first car
it turned over once but then it never went far

And I can see the sun settin' fast
and just like they say nothing good ever lasts
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover
'cause your heart's bound to die
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town
goodnight

I buried my Mama and I buried my Pa
They sleep up the street beside that pretty brick wall
I bring them flowers about every day
but I just gotta cry when I think what they'd say

If they could see how the sun's settin' fast
and just like they say nothing good ever lasts
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover
'cause your heart's bound to die
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town
goodnight

Now I sit on the porch and watch the lightning-bugs fly
but I can't see too good, I got tears in my eyes
I'm leaving tomorrow but I don't wanna go
I love you my town, you'll always live in my soul

But I can see the sun's settin' fast
and just like they say nothing good ever lasts
Well, go on I gotta kiss you goodbye but I'll hold to my lover
'cause my heart's 'bout to die
Go on now and say goodbye to my town, to my town
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on my town, on my town
Goodnight, goodnight

FIFTY MILES OF ELBOW ROOM (F.W. McGee)
(c) 1941 Peer International Corp, BMI

Twelve-hundred miles, it's length and breadth
That four-square city stands
it's gem-set walls of jasper shine
they're not made by human hands

One-hundred miles it's gates are wide
abundant entrance there
with fifty miles of elbow room
on either side to spare

When the gates swing wide on the other side
just beyond the sunset sea
there'll be room to spare as we enter there
There'll be room for you and room for me

For the gates are wide on the other side
where the fairest flowers bloom
on the right hand and on the left hand
fifty miles of elbow room

Sometimes I'm cramped and I'm crowded here
and I long for elbow room
I long to reach for altitude
where the fairest flowers bloom
It won't be long before I pass into that city fair
With fifty miles of elbow room
on either side to spare

Oh, when the gates swing wide on the other side
just beyond the sunset sea
there'll be room to spare as we enter there
There'll be room for you and room for me

Oh, for the gates are wide on the other side
where the fairest flowers bloom
on the right hand and on the left hand
fifty miles of elbow room

INFAMOUS ANGEL (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP

Last night before I went to sleep my knees dropped to the floor
I turned me eyes up to the sky and I prayed "Please help me, Lord,
you know I've sowed my wild oats and now the fun's all gone"
and then I heard these tender words
and I put them in my song:

"Infamous Angel come on home
to someone who loves you and knows you needed to roam
Grab your things, a ticket's waiting at the bus depot
for: Infamous Angel, Destination: Home"

I heard heaven's choir rejoicing as the tears broke from my eyes
and all at once it lifted the weight from my past life
I found a pen and I left a note on the dresser drawer
"Infamous Angel, she don't live here anymore"

Infamous Angel come on home
to someone who loves you and knows you needed to roam
Grab your things, a ticket's waiting at the bus depot
for: Infamous Angel, Destination: Home

Then I hurried out the back door as quickly as I could
I went flying down two flights of stairs 'til on the street I stood
and there I took that final look at my old neighbourhood
Then I ran down the street proclaiming "Angel gone for good"

Infamous Angel going home
to someone who loves her and knows she needed to roam
She grabbed her things and claimed the ticket at the bus depot
for: Infamous Angel, Destination: Home
Infamous Angel, Destination: Home

SWEET FORGIVENESS (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP

Sweet forgiveness, that's what you give to me
when you hold me close and you say "That's all over"
You don't go looking back,
you don't hold the cards to stack,
you mean what you say.

Sweet forgiveness, you help me see
I'm not near as bad as I sometimes appear to be
When you hold me close and say
"That's all over, and I still love you"

There's no way that I could make up for those angry words I said
Sometimes it gets to hurting and the pain goes to my head

Sweet forgiveness, dear God above
I say we all deserve a taste of this kind of love
Someone who'll hold our hand,
and whisper "I understand, and I still love you"

AFTER YOU'RE GONE (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP

There'll be laughter even after you're gone
I'll find reasons to face that empty dawn
'cause I've memorized each line in your face
and not even death can ever erase the story they tell to me

I'll miss you, oh how I'll miss you
I'll dream of you and I'll cry a million tears
but the sorrow will pass and the one thing that will last
is the love that you've given to me

There'll be laughter even after you're gone
I'll find reason and I'll face that empty dawn
'cause I've memorized each line in your face
and not even death could ever erase the story they tell to me

MAMA'S OPRY (Iris DeMent)
[note: harmony vocals provided by Emmylou Harris]
(c) 1992 Songs of Iris/Forerunner Music, Inc. ASCAP

She grew up plain and simple in a farming town
Her daddy played the fiddle and use to do the calling
when they had hoedowns
She said the neighbors would come
and they'd move all my grandma's furniture 'round
and there'd be twenty or more there on the old wooden floor
dancing to a country sound

The Carters and Jimmy Rodgers played her favourite songs
and on Saturday nights there was a radio show
and she would sing along
and I'll never forget her face when she revealed to me
that she'd dreamed about singing at The Grand Ol' Opry

Her eyes, oh how they sparkled when she sang those songs
While she was hanging the clothes on the line
I was a kid just a humming along
Well, I'd be playing in the grass,
to her what might've seemed obliviously
but there ain't no doubt about it, she sure made her mark on me

She played old gospel records on the phonograph
She turned them up loud and we'd sing along
but those days have passed
Just now that I am older it occurs to me
that I was singing in the grandest opry

And we sang Sweet Rose of Sharon, Abide With Me
'til I ride The Gospel Ship to Heaven's Jubilee
and In That Great Triumphant Morning my soul will be free
and My Burdens Will Be Lifted when my Saviour's face I see
So I Don't Want to Get Adjusted to This World below
but I know He'll Pilot Me 'til it comes time to go
Oh, nothing on this earth is half as dear to me
as the sound of my Mama's Opry

And we sang Sweet Rose of Sharon, Abide With Me
'til I ride The Gospel Ship to Heaven's Jubilee
and In That Great Triumphant Morning my soul will be free
and My Burdens Will Be Lifted when my Saviour's face I see
So I Don't Want to Get Adjusted to This World below
but I know He'll Pilot Me 'til it comes time to go
Oh, nothing on this earth is half as dear to me
as the sound of my Mama's Opry

HIGHER GROUND (Iris DeMent)
[note: lead vocal by Flora Mae DeMent, backing vocals by "The Infamous Angel Choir" (Iris, etc.)]
Traditional, public domain

[Spoken intro by Iris: "No voice has inspired me more than my mother's.  She showed me that music is a pathway to higher ground".]

I'm pressing on the upward way
New heights I'm gaining every day
Still praying as I'm onward bound
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground

Lord, lift me up and let me stand
by faith on Heaven's table land
A higher plain than I have found
Lord, plant me feet on higher ground

My heart has no desire to stay
where doubts arise and fears dismay
Though some may dwell where these abound
my prayer, my aim, is higher ground

Lord, lift me up and let me stand
by faith on Heaven's table land
A higher plain than I have found
Lord, plant me feet on higher ground

I want to scale the utmost heights
and catch a gleam of glory bright
but still I'll pray 'til heaven I've found
Lord, lead me on to higher ground

Lord, lift me up and let me stand
by faith on Heaven's table land
A higher plain than I have found
Lord, plant me feet on higher ground

Lord, lift me up and let me stand
by faith on Heaven's table land
A higher plain than I have found
Lord, plant me feet on higher ground

My Life

SWEET IS THE MELODY (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1993 Songs of Iris ASCAP

Sweet is the melody, so hard to come by
It's so hard to make every note bend just right
You lay down the hours and leave not one trace
but a tune for the dancing is there in it's place

The dance floor's for gliding and not jumping over ponies
where boots and gold bracelets come and meet as they should
It's for celebrating a Friday night romance
forgetting the bad stuff and just feeling good

Sweet is the melody, so hard to come by
It's so hard to make every note bend just right
You lay down the hours and leave not one trace
but a tune for the dancing is there in it's place

An arm's just an arm 'til it's wrapped 'round a shoulder
looped side by side they go stepping out together
A note's just a note 'til you wake from your slumber
and dare to discover the new melody

Sweet is the melody, so hard to come by
It's so hard to make every note bend just right
You lay down the hours and leave not one trace
but a tune for the dancing is there in it's place

YOU'VE DONE NOTHING WRONG (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1993 Songs of Iris ASCAP

You told me that you wished that things had not turned out this way
You never thought there'd come a time when you would go away
But you stayed right there beside me even when the love was gone
and just because I'm hurting
that don't mean that you've done something wrong

You said that you were sorry and you'd take all the blame
but we both shared the gamble so let's both share the pain
Like a breeze that blew across us, love just moved along
and just because I'm hurting
that don't mean that you've done something wrong

We were happy for awhile dear, but that's all over now
I'll pick up the pieces and I'll get along somehow
But it all came back too clearly in my bed, alone, tonight
as I was lying here just waiting for that early morning light

Now you've gone so far away, dear, and these words I cannot say
I cursed at you for leaving, slammed the door and ran away
In your face I saw the sadness, but I've waited now too long
to tell you, "I still love you, and you've done nothing wrong"

We were happy for awhile dear, but that's all over now
I'll pick up the pieces and I'll get along somehow
But it all came back too clearly in my bed, alone, tonight
as I was lying here just waiting for that early morning light

CALLING FOR YOU (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1993 Songs of Iris ASCAP

I woke up this morning without you
Don't ask me how but I go t through
The floor of this room I've been pacing
trying to drown out the sound my heart's making
It's calling for you

We said, "It looks like we won't make it.
You hurt me, I hurt you, and we can't take it".
so we fixed it, we thought, just by leaving
but the heart, it's too wise for deceiving
and it's calling for you

You've had enough, I know I've had enough
and we don't know what else now to do
We could both walk away but there's too much at stake
you love me and I know I love you

I walked over and I opened the curtain
It's pouring down rain and, man, it's hurting
The phone on the table is ringing
and I knew before I heard you speaking
you were calling for me

You've had enough, I know I've had enough
and we don't know what else now to do
We could both walk away but there's too much at stake
you love me and I know I love you

I woke up this morning without you
Don't ask me how but I go t through
The floor of this room I've been pacing
trying to drown out the sound my heart's making
It's calling for you

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1993 Songs of Iris ASCAP

Fireflies inside of a mason jar
acting big behind the wheel of daddy's car
Playing church around the old piano stand,
you were quite a preacher and we sang so grand
I remember every night what we would say and do
"If you've forgiven me, then I've forgiven you".
And now when life begins to get the best of me
I reminisce these childhood memories

We built a raft and traveled all around the world
and stopped for penny candy at the corner store
You let me fly your kite but when I dropped the string
I thought my life was over, but Mama rescued me
When I was just a kid you taught my prayers to me
then you turned around and you told me about those birds and bees
Come what may, you've been endeared to me
because we share these childhood memories

Time, it moved so fast, those days are over now
We've all gone our separate ways, but still somehow
I often need to telephone and talk to you
to see if you remember things the way I do
It won't be too much longer `til we'll be old and gray
winding up our travels here on life's highway,
but no matter where I roam I've got you here with me
when I reminisce these childhood memories

NO TIME TO CRY (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1993 Songs of Iris ASCAP

My father died a year ago today,
the rooster started crowing when they carried Dad away
There beside my mother, in the living room, I stood
with my brothers and my sisters knowing Dad was gone for good

Well, I stayed at home just long enough to lay him in the ground
and then I caught a plane to do a show up north in Detroit town
because I'm older now and I've got no time to cry

I've got no time to look back, I've got no time to see
the pieces of my heart that have been ripped away from me
and if the feeling starts to coming, I've learned to stop 'em fast
`cause I don't know, if I let them go, they might not wanna pass
And there's just so many people trying to get me on the phone
and there's bills to pay, and songs to play, and a house to make a home
I guess I'm older now and I've got no time to cry

I can still remember when I was a girl
but so many things have changed so much here in my world
I remember sitting on the front porch when an ambulance went by
and just listening to those sirens I would breakdown and cry

But now I'm walking and I'm talking doing just what I'm supposed to do
working overtime to make sure that I don't come unglued
I guess I'm older now and I've got no time to cry

I've got no time to look back, I've got no time to see
the pieces of my heart that have been ripped away from me
and if the feeling starts to coming, I've learned to stop 'em fast
`cause I don't know, if I let them go, they might not wanna pass
And there's just so many people trying to get me on the phone
and there's bills to pay, and songs to play, and a house to make a home
I guess I'm older now and I've got no time to cry

Now I sit down on the sofa and I watch the evening news
there's a half a dozen tragedies from which to pick and choose
The baby that was missing was found in a ditch today
and there's bombs a-flying and people dying not so far away
I'll take a beer from the 'fridgerator and go sit out in the yard
and with a cold one in my hand I'm gonna bite down and swallow hard
because I'm older now and I've got no time to cry

TROUBLESOME WATERS (Maybelle Carter/E.J. Carter/Dixie Deen)
(c) 1964, 1992 Scruggs Music Inc. BMI

Troublesome waters, much blacker than night,
are hiding from view the harbour's bright light
Tossed on the turmoil of life's troubled sea
I cried to my Saviour, "Have mercy on me".

Then gently I'm feeling the touch of his hand
guiding my boat in safely to land
Leading the way to heaven's bright shore
where troublesome waters I'm fearing no more

Troublesome waters around me do roll
They're rocking my boat and wrecking my soul
Loved ones are drifting and living in sin
the treacherous whirlpools are pulling them in

Then gently I'm feeling the touch of his hand
guiding my boat in safely to land
Leading the way to heaven's bright shore
where troublesome waters I'm fearing no more

When troublesome waters are rolling so high
I lift up my voice and to heaven and cry
Lord, I am trusting, give guidance to me
and steady my boat on life's troubled sea

Then gently I'm feeling the touch of his hand
guiding my boat in safely to land
Leading the way to heaven's bright shore
where troublesome waters I'm fearing no more

MOM & DAD'S WALTZ (Lefty Frizzell)
(c) 1951 Peer International Corporation BMI

I'd walk for miles, cry and smile for my Mama and Daddy
I want them, I want them to know how I feel
My love is real for my Mama and Daddy
I want them to know I love them so

And in my heart, joy tears start `cause I'm happy
and I pray every day for Ma and Pappy
and each night I'd walk for miles, cry and smile
for my Mama and Daddy
I want them to know I love them so

EASY'S GETTIN' HARDER EVERY DAY (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1993 Songs of Iris ASCAP

Standing barefoot on a cold wood floor
Looking out the window of my back door
If it keeps on raining I think the whole damn house is gonna float away
The alarm was buzzing at the break of dawn
My husband asking "Is the coffee on?"
and easy's gettin' harder every day

I'll drop the baby off at school at nine
and bust the lights to get to work on time
where I'll be staring at the clock just waiting to knock off another day
When supper's done we'll watch some TV show
of a bunch of folks who've never heard of Idaho
where easy's gettin' harder every day

I had a garden but my flowers died
There ain't much living here inside
Lately I don't know what I'm holding on to
Wish I could run away to Couer d'Alene
take nothing with me, not even my name
'cause easy's gettin' harder every day

We make love and we kiss goodnight,
he rolls over and he's out like a light
But I ain't mad about it, we got nothing to talk about anyway
The lights are blinking on the radio tower
I lie awake and stare at them for hours and hours
'cause easy's gettin' harder every day

I had a garden but my flowers died
There ain't much living here inside
Lately I don't know what I'm holding on to
I'll never make it up to Couer d'Alene
There ain't no chance of me forgetting my name
and easy, it keeps on gettin' harder every day

And it feels like easy, it just keeps on gettin' harder every day

THE SHORES OF JORDAN (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1993 Songs of Iris ASCAP

I looked up into heaven, I thought I'd solve life's mysteries
I observed the constellations for a clue to my destiny
but the rhyme of life confounds me,
things will be as things will be
so I'll just dance the shores of Jordan 'til the angels carry me

I traveled to a prison, saw my share of shattered dreams
Were the tables slightly tilted?
I could be bound, they could be free
but I believe no tear goes wasted and so I fell there on my knees
and vowed I'd dance the shores of Jordan 'til the angels carried me

I'm gonna let my feet go dancing to my very favourite songs
'cause I know the time for leaving is bound to come before too long
and there ain't no way of me knowing how tomorrow's gonna be
so I'll just dance the shores of Jordan 'til the angels carry me

I saw a weary traveler heading down a dusty road
I said "Friend, please may I help you,
it seems you haul a heavy load"
and he said "Though my burden's heavy,
in my heart I'm travelling light
so I can cross old river Jordan when I'm called to the other side"

I'm gonna let my feet go dancing to my very favourite songs
'cause I know the time for leaving is bound to come before too long
and there ain't no way of me knowing how tomorrow's gonna be
so I'll just dance the shores of Jordan 'til the angels carry me

MY LIFE (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1993 Songs of Iris ASCAP

My life, it don't count for nothing
when I look at this world I feel so small
My life, it's only a season
a passing September that no one will recall

But I gave joy to my mother and I made my lover smile
and I can give comfort to my friends when they're hurting
and I can make it seem better for a while

My life, it's half the way traveled
and still I have not found my way out of this night
My life, it's tangled in wishes
and so many things that just never turned out right

But I gave joy to my mother and I made my lover smile
and I can give comfort to my friends when they're hurting
and I can make it seem better for a while

The Way I Should Be

WHEN MY MORNIN' COMES AROUND (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1996 Songs of Iris ASCAP

When my mornin' comes around, no one else will be there
so I won't have to worry about what I'm supposed to say
and I alone will know that I climbed that great big mountain
and that's all that will matter when my mornin' comes around

When my mornin' comes around, I will look back on this valley
at these sidewalks and alleys where I lingered for so long
and this place where I now live will burn to ash and cinder
like some ghost I won't remember
When my mornin' comes around

When my mornin' comes around, from a new cup I'll be drinking
and for once I won't be thinking that there's something wrong with me
and I'll wake up and find that my faults have been forgiven
and that's when I'll start living
When my mornin' comes around

THERE'S A WALL IN WASHINGTON (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1996 Songs of Iris ASCAP

There's a wall in Washington
and it's made of cold black granite
They say 60,000 names are etched there in it
in that wall in Washington

A father, he traveled from far away
to walk the path 'til he finds that name
He reaches his hand up and traces each letter
The tears they fall as his memories gather
for the boy who filled his heart with pride
is now but a name that's been etched
in the side of this wall in Washington

A mother she traveled from far away
to walk the path 'til she finds that name
She reaches her hand up and traces each letter
The tears they fall as her memories gather
She feels the baby at her breast
but her heart it breaks because all that is left
is this wall in Washington

A boy, he traveled from far away
to walk the path 'til he finds that name
He reaches his hand up and traces each letter
He stares at the name of his unknown father
His heart is young and it's filled with pain
in anger he cries out

"Who is to blame for this wall in Washington
that's made of cold black granite?
Why is my father's name etched here in it
in this wall in Washington?"

WASTELAND OF THE FREE (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1996 Songs of Iris ASCAP

Living in the wasteland of the free...

We got preachers dealing in politics and diamond mines
and their speech is growing increasingly unkind
They say they are Christ's disciples
but they don't look like Jesus to me
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We got politicians running races on corporate cash
Now don't tell me they don't turn around and kiss them peoples' ass
You may call me old-fashioned
but that don't fit my picture of a true democracy
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We got CEO's making two hundred times the workers' pay
but they'll fight like hell against raising the minimum wage
and If you don't like it, mister, they'll ship your job
to some third-world country 'cross the sea
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

Living in the wasteland of the free
where the poor have now become the enemy
Let's blame our troubles on the weak ones
Sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy
Living in the wasteland of the free

We got little kids with guns fighting inner city wars
So what do we do, we put these little kids behind prison doors
and we call ourselves the advanced civilization
that sounds like crap to me
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We got high-school kids running 'round in Calvin Klein and Guess
who cannot pass a sixth-grade reading test
but if you ask them, they can tell you
the name of every crotch on mTV
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We kill for oil, then we throw a party when we win
Some guy refuses to fight, and we call that the sin
but he's standing up for what he believes in
and that seems pretty damned American to me
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

Living in the wasteland of the free
where the poor have now become the enemy
Let's blame our troubles on the weak ones
Sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy
Living in the wasteland of the free

While we sit gloating in our greatness
justice is sinking to the bottom of the sea
Living in the wasteland of the free
Living in the wasteland of the free
Living in the wasteland of the free

I'LL TAKE MY SORROW STRAIGHT (Iris DeMent/Elmer McCall)
(c) 1996 Songs of Iris ASCAP

We both know the reason why you've called
so stop wasting time trying to soften up my fall
I know you wanna sweeten up the taste
but if you don't mind, I'll just take my sorrow straight

You almost make it seem like something nice
the way you take your bad news and you pour it over ice
That's a kindness I don't appreciate
'cause I like to take my sorrow straight

I wouldn't say that I'm stronger than the rest
but no matter what you say it ain't gonna hurt me any less
'cause in the end, there is really no escape
so I go on and I just take my sorrow straight

I wouldn't say that I'm stronger than the rest
but no matter what you say it ain't gonna hurt me any less
'cause in the end, there is really no escape
so I go on and I just take my sorrow straight

THIS KIND OF HAPPY (Iris DeMent/Merle Haggard)
(c) 1996 Songs of Iris ASCAP/Sierra Mountain Music BMI

I traveled high, I traveled low
and there was no place I didn't go
looking for this kind of happy with you
I had a love, it wasn't right
and I spent so many lonely nights
yearning for this kind of happy with you

Happy with you, happy with you
I love the things that you do
It took such a long time that I thought I'd never find
this kind of happy with you

Happy with you, happy with you
This kind of happy with you

And some day when I draw my final breath
I'm gonna know I had the best
'cause I had this kind of happy with you

THE WAY I SHOULD (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1996 Songs of Iris ASCAP

A cold wind against my shoulder woke me up in the middle of the night
An Autumn leaf was scraping against my window
like it was trying hard to get inside
and then a ghost that I had met before kept me up 'til dawn
and everything I thought was right was suddenly all wrong
He said, "Your score is looking pretty bad"
and then he asked me what it was that I had to show

So I went running down a list of things
some were real, but on some of them I lied
'cause I felt I had to justify each breath that I'd been breathing in this life
Then I realized I was playing into someone else's rules,
trying to keep my score up in a game I did not choose
Then I looked that ghost straight in the eye
and said "You'd better not be coming back by again"

And it's true that I don't work near as hard
as you tell me that I'm supposed to
I don't run as fast as I could
but I live just the way I want to
and that's the way I should

October's leaves were dancing 'round
like angels dressed in robes of Red and Gold
but November's come and gone now
and they're lying in the gutter out along the road
They're gonna make their way out to the ditch or someday to the sea,
they'll get to where they're going without the help of you or me
and if each life is just a grain of sand
I'm telling you man, this grain of sand is mine

And it's true that I don't work near as hard
as you tell me that I'm supposed to
I don't run as fast as I could
but I live just the way I want to
and that's the way I should
but I live just the way I want to
and that's the way I should

LETTER TO MOM (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1996 Songs of Iris ASCAP

I wrote my mother yesterday 'cause I had some things that I had to say
and I know that when she reads them she's gonna cry
But in the end I hope she sees
that I'm just trying to break free
'cause I've been walking 'round with secrets now, too long

Back when I was barely ten Mom brought home a new boyfriend
and I know that times were bad and he made her feel good
but one night he climbed into my bed
and he left me wishing I was dead
and I've been walking 'round with secrets now, too long

You say I'm digging up the past and it's not wise to go back
but for me it's just as close as yesterday
and I'm not the kind for breaking rules
and I'm not wanting to be cruel
I've just been walking 'round with secrets now, too long

All my life I've felt ashamed, 'cause I thought I was the one to blame
and I vowed to God that no one else would ever know
how he crushed my childish pride
and left me tears that never dried
and I've been walking 'round with secrets now, too long

You say I'm digging up the past and it's not wise to go back
but for me it's just as close as yesterday
and I'm not the kind for breaking rules
and I'm not wanting to be cruel
I've just been walking 'round with secrets now, too long
and I've just been walking 'round with secrets now, too long

KEEP ME GOD (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1996 Songs of Iris ASCAP

It was a long time ago, I was a girl 'bout 12 years old
on my back staring up into the dark summer sky
when I said, "God, tomorrow I can't see
but I'll stick close to you if you'll stick close to me!"
and that night I prayed "Keep me God! Keep me God."

Now, I don't know just where God lives
ain't all that sure just exactly who God is
I don't know if there's a church
that deserves to take God's name
I just know that when I look around here I see
the hand of someone or something
that is bigger than me
and I call that God
and then I pray "Just, keep me God"

I'm in a plane up in the sky
A storm surrounds us as we fly
and below, the big black ocean is all that I can see
When all at once I realize: Don't really matter if I live or even if I die
Just so long as you keep me God

Now, when my days draw to an end
and I've said goodbye to my family and friends
When the tide that turns my life is standing still
as I turn my final bend, I betcha I'm gonna be asking even then
Keep me God, keep me God, keep me God
Keep me God, keep me God, keep me God

QUALITY TIME (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1995 Songs of Iris ASCAP

She's got a phone in one hand, a hairbrush in the other
and she says, "Life's too short to stay home and be a mother"
She says she can have it all 'cause that's The New Deal
so God give her a hand, 'cause she needs one for the wheel

When he gets home from work, it's well after seven
But he drives a nice car so he thinks he's in Heaven
and his kids hardly know him but they've all got nice clothes
and in just a few hours more overtime he can pay-off that boat

And they've got nice big houses, and they've got nice big cars
and it looks, from the outside, like they're really going far
but there's trouble in the engine and we're junkyard-bound
if some moms and some dads don't start hanging around

When they get around to dinner they're damn near half-dead
so they drive through McDonald's and put the kids off to bed
But they're upwardly mobile and everything is fine
'cause when they do get together, it's quality time

And they've got nice big houses, and they've got nice big cars
and it looks, from the outside, like they're really going far
but there's trouble in the engine and we're junkyard-bound
if some moms and some dads don't start hanging around

They want stickers on the music, they want the laws turned around
They want the cops to run Beavis and Butthead outta town
They say they care about their children, but it's just too damn hard
To turn off that TV or sell off that car

And they've got nice big houses, and they've got nice big cars
and it looks, from the outside, like they're really going far
but there's trouble in the engine and we're junkyard-bound
if some moms and some dads don't start hanging around

There's a whole lot of people who can't make ends meet
and on the wages that they're earning, I know a family can't eat
But I'm talking 'bout people who would sell their kid's soul
to keep up with the Jones', no matter the toll

And they've got nice big houses, and they've got nice big cars
and it looks, from the outside, like they're really going far
but there's trouble in the engine and we're junkyard-bound
if some moms and some dads don't start hanging around

When they do get together, it's quality time

WALKIN' HOME (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1995 Songs of Iris ASCAP

I'm walkin' home tonight
The streets are glowing 'neath the pale moonlight
I look around, there's not a soul in sight
and I'm walkin' home
Once again I hear my mother's voice
and all us kids making a bunch of noise
If I'm not careful I might start to cry
Just walkin' home tonight

I turn my head and hear the screen door slam
and there he is, that tall and dark-haired man
He looks my way but all alone he stands
and I am walkin' home
He's my Dad, you know I was his girl
He taught me all he knew about this world
and then he traveled right on out of sight
and I'm just walkin' home tonight

I'm walkin' home tonight
The streets are glowing 'neath the pale moonlight
I look around, there's not a soul in sight
and I am walkin' home

Old worn-out couches and a bunch of kids
Four to a bedroom and all Mom's plates were chipped
but I never knew about the things I missed
and I'm walkin' home
You see, it's just the place where I come from
and, good or bad, it's where the deal was done
Mom and Dad, their daughters and their sons
and I'm just walkin' home tonight

I'm walkin' home tonight
The streets are glowing 'neath the pale moonlight
I look around, there's not a soul in sight
and I'm walkin' home
Once again I hear my mother's voice
and all us kids making a bunch of noise
If I'm not careful I might start to cry
Just walkin' home tonight

TROUBLE (Iris DeMent/Elmer McCall)
[Duet with Delbert McClinton]
(c) 1996 Songs of Iris ASCAP

I went to church on Sunday, I swung my chariot low
Reached up to kiss the deacon, he said "You'd better go"
Trouble, I'm in trouble with him
Trouble's where I'm going
Trouble's the only place I've ever been

Let's buy a watermelon, swallow all the seeds
Forget what Mama told us, do everything we please
Trouble, trouble again
Trouble's where we're going
Trouble's the only place we've ever been

Let's pour a little whiskey, drink a little gin
Listen to Merle Haggard like he's loving me again
Trouble, I'm even in trouble with him
Trouble's where I'm going
Trouble's the only place I've ever been

Let's turn off the TV, I'm tired of CNN
Let's throw a little party, invite some sinners in
Trouble, trouble again
Trouble's where we're going
Trouble's the only place we've ever been

I'll paint your toenails baby, you paint my toenails too
We'll take a walk down Main Street and watch what people do
Trouble, let's get in trouble with them
Trouble's where we're going
Trouble's the only place we've ever been

There's people building prisons for people like you and me
Some people just can't stand people like us being free
Trouble, what's trouble with them
Trouble's where we're heading
Trouble's the only place we've ever been

Sooner or later, darling, everybody's gotta go
Let's you and me leave early, get a seat on the first row
Trouble, trouble again
Trouble's where we're going
Trouble's the only place we've ever been

B-Sides ETC.

I. Studio Recordings from CD Singles

II. Studio Recordings from Compilation Albums

III. Live recordings appearing on CD Singles